UFCThe Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts organization, recognized as the largest MMA promotion in the world. The UFC is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada and is owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC. This promotion is responsible for solidifying the sport's postion in the history-books.
UFC is currently undergoing a remarkable surge in popularity, along with greater mainstream media coverage. UFC programming can now be seen on FOX, FX, and FUEL TV in the United States, as well as in 35 other countries worldwide.

It just might not happen quite as soon as Machida, Rua and UFC president Dana White might like.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today spoke with Machida's manager, Ed Soares, who confirmed "The Dragon" went under the knife on Friday and will be limited in training until mid-January.

"He had surgery yesterday on his left hand," Soares said. "The doctor said it was a complete success."

Soares said the procedure actually addressed a set of lingering issues rather than repairing something that occurred during Machida and Rua's hotly contested Oct. 24 bout in the main event of "UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun."

"Lyoto's hand has been actually injured for a while," Soares said. "Before the fight with 'Shogun,' he went to the doctor, and he went to a special surgeon in Brazil. Basically, they say said that he was going to need surgery, but he didn't want to cancel the fight.

"He just roughed it through this training camp. The hand has been bothering him for quite a while now. It was one of those situations. He just roughed through it."

While sharing the details of the surgery, Soares said it was important to note he was not trying to suggest Machida's hand issues in any way played a role in what many felt was a lackluster performance from the champ.

"We're not trying to make any excuses or anything," Soares said. "We didn't come out and say anything. We said Lyoto was 100 percent, which he was.